A Dreamplay
May 20 - June 19, 2016
by August Strindberg
translated by Paul Walsh
directed by Rob Melrose
A Dreamplay features a young woman who, nearing the end of her life, dreams of herself as Indra’s daughter, coming down to earth to better understand the plight of humanity.
Her surreal journey ends after she has fully experienced human suffering. Strindberg structured the play using dream logic and said, “Everything can happen; everything is possible and likely.” In 2012 Melrose directed all five of August Strindberg’s chamber plays in Cutting Ball’s seven hour Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep.
REVIEWS
"Melrose does wonders . . . 'Dreamplay' is (his) valedictory directing project."
"Melrose’s inventive staging establishes each new location in a new way — no small feat in the Cutting Ball's tiny black box playing space."
"Sound designer Cliff Caruthers . . . does some of his best work with this production . . . (by) endowing the whole show with the sense that someone is watching over the proceedings."
- SF Gate
SPECIAL EVENTS
- Saturday Swedish Candy: Indulge in delectable Swedish candies, imported by Güdibag, in honor of the play's Nordic author. Offered at every Saturday show.
- Meet the Translator, on May 26, at 6PM (show is at 7PM): Hear the unique insights of Paul Walsh, translator and one of America's foremost experts on Strindberg during this exclusive pre-show talk.
- Docented Saturdays, on May 28 and June 4, at 7PM (show is at 8PM): Sip red wine courtesy of Calluna Vineyards and enjoy a pre-show lecture with Docent Matty Bloom.
- Happy Hour Fridays: Free wine will be served in the lobby every Friday before curtain.
- Sunday Talk-Back with the Cast: Stick around after the show on Sundays to attend a talk-back with the cast of A Dreamplay, led by Producing Associate Artistic Director Ariel Craft.
Ponder Goddard (Agnes / Indra's Daughter) is a graduate of NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing and Drama Centre London’s MA in Classical Acting. A Cutting Ball Associate Artist since 2007, she has appeared as Mother Ubu (Ubu Roi), Anne (Communiqué n°10), Tranio (Taming of the Shrew) and several featured roles in the 2012 Strindberg Cycle, as well as many staged readings including Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis. She has performed locally with California Shakespeare Theater, African-American Shakespeare Company, Performers Under Stress, Faultline Theater and Golden Thread. Other favorite roles include Titania/Hippolyta with the Grassroots Shakespeare London Company, The Poet in A Dream Play with 21 Limbs (London), Natasha in Three Sisters at the Vakhtangov Institute Moscow, Imogen in Cymbeline with Shakespeare’s Globe Conservatory, Ariel in The Tempest at African-American Shakespeare Company. Ponder is currently working on a PhD in clinical psychology.
Carl Holvick (Lawyer, Ensemble) returns to Cutting Ball after appearing in Strindberg Cycle: TheChamber Plays in Rep in 2012. He is the Education Director and a Resident Artist at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. He played Glen in Mechanics of Love at Crowded Fire Theater and Romeo in San Francisco Shakes' Free Shakespeare in the Park last summer. Carl has also worked with Shotgun Players, San Jose Stage Company, Pacific Repertory Theater, Playwrights Foundation, Marin Shakespeare Company, Impact Theatre, Just Theater, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, PlayGround and Word for Word. Carl earned a double BA degree from UC Berkeley in Theatre and Political Science.
Marilet Martinez (Ensemble) is a teaching artist, fight choreographer, improviser, physical theatre deviser and puppeteer. She is a co-founder of the Bay Area Latino Theatre Artists Network (BALTAN) and member of the ‘Yeah I said Feminist’ Theatre Salon. Marilet has worked with A.C.T., Cal Shakes, the SF Mime Troupe, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Word for Word, PCPA Theatrefest, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire Theater, African-American Shakes, Woman’s Will, Teatrovision and more. Marilet is a company member at Impact Theatre in Berkeley. A Dreamplay marks Marilet's fifth show as an Associate Artist with Cutting Ball. She looks forward to stepping into her new role as Cutting Ball's first Education Coordinator.
Kirsten Peacock (Ensemble), though from British/American heritage, was raised in the kingdom of Norway. She studied in Canterbury, England, taking a year abroad at UC Berkeley and finishing with a masters in directing with a focus on interactive theatre. Her acting credits include Pat Green in Breaking the Code (Theatre Rhinoceros), Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (T:24), Lady MacDuff in Macbeth (T:24) and several collaborations and performances with UK based physical theatre company, Entita Theatre. She has also directed and choreographed performances in the UK and the Bay Area.
Kunal Prasad (Poet, Ensemble) is a Bay Area native and has performed at Berkeley Repertory Theater, City Lights Theater Company, Magic Theatre, and New Conservatory Theatre Center. He has been part of various improv groups, and emceed the modern vaudeville show Phaedra's Cabaretwith Flux Industries in New York City. Favorite theater credits include: HIStory at |the claque|, homeward at Red Fern Theatre Company, Julius Caesar at Centre Dramatique National d'Orléans, and Room and Celebration at The American Repertory Theater. He received his BA from San Francisco State University, and MFA from The American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, and studied Advanced Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC.
Radhika Rao (Ensemble) is honored to make her Cutting Ball debut! Radhika is an actor, director, storyteller, improviser, educator and a writer of children's plays. She is a member of Eth-Noh-Tec storytelling ensemble and a resident artist of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She is the co-founder of Colorized Improv and the improv duo Colorized Letters. She performs in new work festivals with Playwrights Foundation, Playwrights Center San Francisco and Olympians Festival. Recent performances were at Bay Area Children's Theatre (Rickshaw Girl), and with the Farah Kathak Dance Company (The Twentieth Wife). In the fall, Radhika will play Lady Macbeth in Arabian Shakespeare Festival's production of The Scottish Play.
Carina Lastimosa (Ensemble) is making her Cutting Ball debut. Other San Francisco Bay Area credits include Dogeaters (Magic Theatre), Peter Pan (Berkeley Playhouse), The Day The Crayons Quit (Bay Area Children’s Theatre), The Desk Set (No Nude Men), A Merry Forking Christmas (PianoFight), Slaughterhouse-Five (Custom Made Theatre Co.), World Premieres of The Crazed (Central Works) and A Kind of Sad Love Story (Bindlestiff Studio) and as a performer/educator for Kaiser’s Educational Theatre.
Josh Schell (Officer, Ensemble) was last seen at Cutting Ball in Pelleas and Melisande. Other credits include The Nether (San Francisco Playhouse), Ada and the Memory Engine (Central Works), Fifth of July (Aurora), Our Town (Shotgun Players), The Bereaved (Crowded Fire) and In the Red and Brown Water (Marin Theatre Company) among others. Independent films include For the Coyotes (Official Selection, 2015 Bend Film Festival), Pleased to Meet You (Showcase Selection, 2014 Lucerne Int'l Film Festival) and The Whistler (available on YouTube) among others. He has also acted in a variety of commercial, industrial and voice-over projects. BFA, University of Southern California.
READ MORE
Strindberg’s Breakthrough as an Artist
In 1879, August Strindberg was the new “it” author in Scandinavia. Having dabbled in playwriting and painting and having worked for some time as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library in Stockholm, he was known of by some but had yet to make the first of many splashes in Swedish literary circles. That breakthrough would come with the novel The Red Room (Röda rummet) in 1879. A no holds barred critique of the Stockholm bohemian artist community; many hailed the novel as the first modern novel written in Swedish. READ MORE
The Translator Speaks
Presented to the Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America (ASTRA), Berkeley CA, October 2012
It is a great pleasure to have been invited here this afternoon to share my thoughts about the mysteries and challenges and joys of translating Strindberg’s Chamber Plays for the stage. Challenges are foremost on my mind because talking about what I do is always a challenge for me, and especially when asked to talk about what I do to a group of experts. I’m much better at talking about what other people do. Besides, translating remains pretty much a mystery to me, though I cherish this opportunity to try to unravel a bit of this mystery for myself and share my doubts with you. READ MORE
Special Thanks
Calluna Vineyards
The Barbaro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation
SWEA San Francisco